“We’ve got a lot of people coming in and being real upset, like, ‘What the hell — why did they do that? This is crazy,’” Katz said.

In Flight Sports, 507 E. Grand River Ave., another East Lansing store that sold the drug, last sold K2 on Thursday and since has removed it from its shelves. Many people still have not realized the ban is in effect, employee Rebecca Goldberg said.

“Some (customers) are surprised, and some of them know and were just trying to get it anyway, hoping for a miracle,” Goldberg said. “But we have to send them (away) disappointed.”

However, the ban is a waste of time because new chemical compounds will soon render it obsolete, Katz said. She said she anticipates a new K2-like substance on her shelves soon, maybe within a week.

“(The legislation’s sponsor state) Sen. Rick Jones and all (of) them, they’re wasting all of our tax dollars putting these bills forth,” Katz said. “Something is going to be out there. … It’s much harder for him to pass a bill than for my chemist to come out with a new compound.”

Accounting freshman Taniyah Jordan said although she thought legislators had the right idea in banning K2, she agreed people likely will find a way around it.

“If K2 can still get you high, I think … that you can still harm people, so (the ban is) protecting the people,” Jordan said. “(But people) will find another chemical to get around it, like they already do. Weed is illegal, but they still smoke it. Or find something else to get
you high, like sniffing markers or something.”

Regardless of the number of substitutes that can be created, choosing not to regulate K2 would have been irresponsible, said state Rep. Mark Meadows, D-East Lansing, who voted in favor of the legislation.

“It’s (never) a waste of time, especially when people’s lives might be in danger,” Meadows said. “Once you determine that the stuff would have a really inappropriate effect on people, you have to wonder why you would continue to sell it. I don’t understand that attitude.”

Passed by the state House in June and state Senate in September, the new amendment to the public health code classifies K2 and other synthetic cannabinoids as Schedule 1 drugs — those with a high risk of dependency and no known medicinal uses. Other Schedule 1 drugs include marijuana, Ecstasy and heroin.

K2 is an herbal blend sprayed with the chemical JWH-018, which contains no tetrahydrocannabinol, but creates a marijuana-like high.

Granholm signed the bills out of concern for citizens’ health, spokeswoman Katie Carey said.

“(Granholm) believes the synthetic cannabinoids pose a significant risk to the health and safety to the residents of Michigan and therefore signed that bill,” Carey said.

Similar to many other Schedule 1 drugs, the penalty for manufacture or sale of K2 could bring offenders a felony charge, $10,000 in fines and up to seven years in jail. Mimicking the penalties for marijuana, simple possession of the drug is a misdemeanor punishable by a $2,000 fine and up to a year in jail. Also a misdemeanor charge, use of the drug could bring a $100 fine and up to 90 days in jail.